Unexpected
by The Ice Goddess
Summary: When Lila joins her uncle Ben on a trip into space, she didn't think she would be returning to Earth with powers! As Lila struggles to control her new-found talents, a certain playboy can't help but be drawn towards her. Why is Johnny showing such a sudden interest in her? And why does everything have to be so completely UNEXPECTED? ON HIATUS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. Sorry...
1. Victor Von Doom

**AN: I would like to thank **_**shadowglove **_**for her amazing crossover fanfic that got me interested in doing a Fantastic Four story! Her story is posted under my favorites, and she herself is under my favorite authors! **

**The cover picture is how I picture Lila, my OC. :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fantastic Four. I am assuming you all read the first chapter first and read this, so I WILL NOT BE REPEATING MYSELF THROUGHOUT THE STORY. Thanks! **

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**Chapter 1: Victor Von Doom**

LILA'S POV

"Oh my God. What on Earth is that monstrosity?" I muttered as we walked towards the Von Doom's company building. My uncle, Ben Grimm, just shook his head as we followed his longtime friend and partner, Reed Richards up to the giant statue being built.

"Typical of Victor Von Doom to build a thirty foot statue of himself." Ben said quietly, wrinkling his nose in distaste as I held back a snort. Even though we didn't look like relatives, our sarcasm was definitely alike.

"Well, it's obviously aimed at first time visitors to create feelings of smallness. Inadequacy." We both glanced at Reed as he trailed off, his eyes glazing over. I tried and failed not to roll my eyes at him. Reed may have been a genius, but he had such low self-esteem.

"Good thing it aint working." I mumbled exasperatedly, earning a chuckle from Ben.

"Reed, what are we _doing _here? This guy's fast-food, strip-mall science!" I trailed along behind them, letting the two of them hash it out. Reed sighed.

"This wasn't our first stop, in case you forgot, Besides, Victor's not that bad. He's just a little…larger than life. Reed sighed as we finally escaped the crowds of people outside.

"I couldn't tell." I gave one last look to the giant display of metal arrogance before we stepped into the elevator, heading up to meet Von Doom.

* * *

><p>"My research suggests that exposure to a high-energy cosmic storm borne on solar winds might have triggered the evolution of early planetary life." Reed explained as Ben and I stood off to the side. I had to smile at Reed's obvious enthusiasm; he took so much joy in science. "In six weeks, another cloud with the same elemental profile will pass Earth's orbit. A study, conducted in space could fundamentally advance our knowledge about the structure of the human genome- cure countless diseases, extend human life, give kids a chance to live longer, stronger, healthier-"<p>

"Turn it off. Please." A smooth voice interrupted from within the shadows. I had still yet to catch a glimpse of Victor, as he was almost entirely hidden within the gloom of his desk. All I could make out was his darker silhouette.

"I don't think I've explained my proposal fully…" Reed tried to begin again, but he was once more cut off by Victor.

"No, I think you have." I heard a low chuckle. "Same old Reed, always stretching, reaching for the stars with the weight of the world on his back. But dreams don't pay the bills, do they?" He tossed a magazine carelessly across the table. In big, bold letters, the headline read 'Reed Richards BANKRUPT' with a picture of him next to a DNA strand. I inwardly seethed that Victor would stoop so low. Reed was already having a rough time, he didn't need salt rubbed in his wounds. Reed only took a moment to compose himself before he was off again.

"You remember, when we were in school we talked about working together. Well, that's what I was about to explain." He walked over to the remote that controlled the holographic projections that he had been showing during his presentation. With a click of a button, the scene shifted to a space station. "The storm is deadly, but the shields on your station's control room are designed to protect any occupants inside." The lights around Victor Von Doom suddenly brightened and I could see him for the first time. He wore a gray suit with a white shirt underneath, and he seemed fairly tall and in good health. He had slick black hair and shrewd, blue eyes that sat on his chiseled face. Taking in his appearance overall, this was a businessman, not a scientist. He sat comfortably in what could only be described as a small throne as he gave Reed a patronizing smile.

"So, it's not just my money you want. It's my toys." Reed looked a little sheepish, but conceded to the truth of Victor's words with a nod and a shrug. "Tell me, if NASA doesn't trust you, than why should I?" I felt Ben tense up next to me and I looked at him and Reed as they gave each other shocked and wary looks. I knew from my Uncle that the whole NASA debacle wasn't supposed to be common knowledge. So how exactly had Victor found out about it? Victor laughed as he took in the two of theirs expressions. "That's my job- to stay a step ahead, to know what other men don't." He said as he gracefully slid himself out from behind his desk, coming to lean against the table Reed had been showing his proposal on. Ben walked up to Reed, fists clenched in irritation.

"I can't take this." He growled. I walked up to him and put a hand on his arm, willing him to calm down. If there was even the slight possibility that Victor was going to grant Reed the funding he needed, then Ben needed to relax before he screwed everything up.

"Ben, this is just business. Just work." Reed tried to soothe him before a new voice spoke up.

"He's right, Ben. It is just business." A clear voice rang out from behind us. While Reed froze, both Ben and I turned to greet the new face. Both of the men obviously recognized her, but I had no idea who she was.

"I think you know my director of genetic research, Susan Storm." Victor offered helpfully from behind us. The beautiful blonde woman stepped forward, smiling slightly at us.

"One more thing he's got." I heard Ben mutter to Reed.

"What- oh!" My eyes widened as I realized that this must be Reed's ex-girlfriend, the one that had stolen his heart and had never given it back. According to Ben, Reed hadn't been on a date since the day she walked out on him. I gave Reed a pitying look as he finally mustered up the courage to turn around and face her along with the rest of us.

"Hey, Susie!" Ben called out to her, causing her smile to widen into a genuine grin.

"Hey! Oh, it's so nice to see you!" She exclaimed, giving Ben a big hug. "How's Debbie?"

"Great."

"Great. Who's this?" She turned to me smiling kindly. I gave her a small, shy smile in return. I may have been open when I was with family, but around people I didn't know? Not so much. Ben hung his arm around my shoulders, giving me a little squeeze of encouragement. He knew how I was around new people.

"This is my niece, Lila. My idiot of a brother kicked her out of the house as soon as she was eighteen, so I took over her care." Susan gasped is shock and gave me a sympathetic frown.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" I shrugged.

"It's really no big deal. I'm happier living with Uncle Ben. He's cool." She laughed as Ben rolled his eyes at me and mussed my hair.

"Anyway, she's majoring in Genetics and minoring in Evolutionary Anthropology. She's been helping Reed and me out in the lab. We're kind of hoping that she can tag along to gain some hands on experience and help with anything she can."

"If Victor decides to okay this trip I'm sure you can come. We could always use another set of hands! And any family of Ben's is family of mine. It was very nice to meet you, Lila." She gave me one last sunny smile before her face hardened as she turned to Reed. Knowing how socially awkward Reed usually was, added to the fact that he used to date Sue, I knew this wasn't going to be pretty.

"Uh, how have you been?" Reed asked nervously as he fidgeted under Susan's cold stare.

"Never better." She said in a clipped tone, very different than the one she had used with me and Ben. She held out her hand formally and I winced at the disconnected, emotionless feel her greeting had. Reed shook it with a quiet sigh.

"This isn't going to be a problem, is it?" Victor spoke up again from behind us. I had nearly forgotten that he was there, he had been so quiet.

"Oh, not at all."

"No." Both of them answered as Reed turned around quickly to escape Susan's scrutinizing gaze and faced Victor.

"Good!" Victor strolled leisurely towards us focusing, of course, on Susan. "Then you are just in time to hear the great Reed Richards ask _me _for help." He walked past the three of us to stand by Susan. "You made a lot of folks at M.I.T. feel like a junior high science fair so you'll excuse me if I…_savor _the moment." I could tell Victor had really gotten to Reed, but I had to give him credit. He tried his hardest to look past it.

"You back this mission and I'll sign over a fair percentage of any applications-"

"The number is seventy-five, and its applications and patents." I couldn't help but gape at Victor's audacity. That was far too much!

"What about his first born?" It seemed Ben evidentially agreed with me.

"Ben." Reed chided quickly while Victor laughed.

"Come on. Twenty-five percent of a billion is enough to keep the lights on a while, isn't it? Maybe even pay off your fourth mortgage on the Baxter Building." Victor wheedled, referring to where Reed lived. "Deal?" Victor held out his hand and we all looked at Reed to see what he would do. After a moment of hesitation and tense silence, Reed shook his hand in agreement. "Well, then, to our future. Together." It didn't slip my notice that he wrapped his arm possessively around her waist, casually reminding Reed that she was no longer his. If it wouldn't have ruined my chances for going into space and getting Reed's project funded, I swear I would have slapped that smug little smirk right off of Victor Von Doom's face. "It's funny how things turn out, isn't it?" I gritted my teeth in annoyance. Maybe it would be worth not going to space if I could just punch him...

"Hilarious." Reed deadpanned before turning and beginning to pack up his projector and papers. After he was done, he snapped his briefcase closed and we began to walk out of the conference room. It didn't take long before Ben started voicing his mistrust of Von Doom once more.

"He knew about NASA. Maybe he made the call to shut us down!" He whispered suspiciously. I knew his hatred of Victor was clouding his judgement, but I had to admit it was a valid concern. Victor had the resources to do such a thing. Reed just gave him a tired smile. The energy that had seemed to burst from him while he was presenting seemed to have been sapped by seeing Susan with Victor.

"Ben, think about all the people we can help if this works, huh? Look, we got what we wanted. That's enough. A few days in space. It'll be great! What's the worst that can happen?" I groaned and elbowed him in the ribs.

"Reed! Don't say that! You're going to jinx us!" I whined and they laughed quietly at my antics. We walked to the elevator in companionable silence, each of us lost in our own thoughts. As we climbed in, Susan caught up with us and joined us inside, with Ben and I standing in the back and Reed and Susan standing in the front. Susan pushed the button for the ground floor and we all tried to ignore the heavy tension that was permeating through the small space. After a few more moments of the dreaded silence, Susan finally broke it.

"Reed, you should know those solar winds have been picking up speed."

"I factored them into my coordinates." He instantly responded, giving her a brief smile.

"Right. Of course you did. In theory." She said stiffly with a little shrug. "It's a little different once you're out there."

"I can assure you-"

"When are we leaving?" I quickly interrupted, trying to salvage the situation. The two of them paused, as if they had forgotten that there were other people on the elevator with them before Susan turned around with a forced smile.

"I'll be scheduling the launch. You can call me in the morning for resources and crew." She said, holding out her card for Reed to take. He glanced down at it and then looked back up at her with a little smile.

"I think I remember the number."

"It's been changed." She replied without missing a beat. Ouch. If this was just the elevator trip, I wasn't sure we'd survive the journey into space. He took the card hesitantly as she turned to face the doors once more. Ben cleared his throat, catching Reed's attention and reminding him what he wanted Reed to ask about.

"As far as crew, I was hoping Ben could pilot the mission." Reed said, once again gaining Sue's attention. She turned around to give Ben a regretful smile.

"We already have a pilot on our payroll. But you're welcome to ride shotgun. Remember my brother, Johnny?" I couldn't hold back my snickers at their dumbfounded expressions of shock.

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**AN: Weeeeelllllll? What do you think? Give me some love! I did it the hard way, stopping the movie every five seconds so I could write what they were saying. I tweaked it a bit to fit in Lila and give her a bit of a backstory, but I didn't have to do much in this chapter. But there will be major changes in later chapters, I assure you. **

**R&R my lovelies!**


	2. The Storm

**AN: I am writing this as I watch the movie…..over. And over. And over again. Needless to say, I will be able to quote the entire thing by the time this fanfiction is complete. Good thing Chris Evans is hot or I would never pull through!**

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**Chapter 2: The Storm **

LILA'S POV

"_That's _our pilot? _He's _the one we're trusting to get us to space and back safely?" I watched as Johnny Storm sped his way down the dirt track to where we would be performing the launch. He had just got done making out with a random chick driving in a convertible before he pulled away and went on solo towards the site. This reckless playboy was the one who would be in charge of all of our lives? I lowered the binoculars and shook my head. "We're going to die." Ben nodded in agreement.

"Can't do it." He stated firmly, glaring through his own binoculars at the man in question. "Cannot do it." Reed looked at him, his eyebrows bunched in confusion.

"External S.R.B's, orbital system engines. It's just like the shuttle you flew-"

"No!" Ben interrupted angrily as Reed missed his point. "I cannot take orders from the underwear model."

"Oh, come on now Ben!"

"That wing nut washed out of NASA for sneaking two Victoria's Secret wannabes into a flight simulator."

"Youthful high spirits." Reed tried to shrug it off, but Ben wasn't having it.

"They crashed it into a wall. A flight _simulator_." I tried to smother a laugh, but evidentially failed as Ben turned his glare towards me. "I don't get why you're laughing, Lila. Like you said, this is the idiot that's supposedly getting us into space." I shrugged nonchalantly.

"Eh, I've resigned myself to my fate. Might as well get a laugh out of his idiocy." Ben rolled his eyes as Reed sighed at our lack of confidence. He turned back to Ben, his voice slightly pleading.

"When have I ever asked you to do something you absolutely said you could not do?" He hedged, holding his hands out in a calming gesture.

"Five times." Ben responded automatically, glaring at Reed.

"I had it at four."

"Well this makes five!" He said before quickly stomping down the stairs to go back inside. Reed sighed and leaned against the railing. I nudged him playfully with my elbow.

"You know, he's right. This does make five." I teased, earning a small smile out of him.

"Lila, I don't suppose you could…"

"Talk to him for you?" I smirked. "Yeah, I think I can manage that. Don't worry, Reed. You're my Uncle's best friend, he'll be here for you. He's just being dramatic." I patted him on the shoulder and headed down to talk to Ben. I found him double checking his suitcase, making sure everything he needed was there. I sat down on the couch and waited for him to acknowledge me. I heard him sigh as he glanced up at me.

"You know I'm not going to skip out on Reed. I just hate that playboy." He growled, violently throwing some of the clothes he had taken out back into the case.

"Yeah, I know. And I'm sure Reed knows it too. But I also know that you seem more worked up than usual over this. What's up Uncle Benny?" He smiled as I used my little pet name I had given him when I was younger. He didn't tolerate anyone but me calling him 'Benny', and I always felt proud that we had a good enough relationship that he was okay with me calling him it.

"I just hate that kid, Lila. And I hate that he gets to pilot the mission and I have to follow him around. Doesn't help that I know he'll try to get in your pants." I laughed.

"Uncle Ben, we _all _know that the only reason that moron is flying is because Victor can't afford you!" I smiled as I got up and hugged him. "You're just too good for his bad company." He laughed, mussing up my hair in affection.

"Thanks, Lila."

"And about the pants thing, you worry too much! I doubt he would be interested in little old me, and even if he was I wouldn't be interested in someone like him." I made a face at the thought, causing him to chuckle.

"Alright, kid. I get it." With all that out of the way, we began talking about nonessential things to pass the time until the launch. Reed eventually came down and sat down with his laptop, still doing research, like always. I finally left Ben alone to his packing and plopped myself down on the couch, scrolling through the songs I had on my Ipod until I found one I wanted to listen to. I glanced back over at Ben and saw him holding a picture of his fiancé, Debbie, and I frowned. Ben was head over heels in love with her, but, for some reason, Debbie just rubbed me the wrong way. Every time I saw her with my Uncle I could just _tell _that she wasn't as invested in the relationship as he was. She didn't seem to like me either, which left poor Ben right in the middle of some of our arguments. Our fighting gave Ben a lot of grief, so I basically moved in with Reed to keep the peace. I even had my own room there and everything. As Ben worked with Reed, I still saw my Uncle every day, and without the struggles of trying to make nice with Debbie, everyone was happier in the long run. Especially Reed, as I paid for my occupancy by cooking his a lot of our meals. That poor man couldn't cook anything; I was honestly shocked he had made it this far without starving himself. I was jolted out of my thoughts when a loud voice rang through the halls.

"Captain on the bridge!" Ben instinctively stood at attention, stiff as a board. A bright light flashed from the doorway, blinding us all momentarily.

"What the hell?" I asked as I blinked repeatedly to try to clear my vision. White spots were still dancing in front of my eyes as Johnny Storm sauntered in, holding a camera.

"Digital camera- 254 dollars. Memory stick- 59 dollars. The look on you hard-ass former C.O.'s face when he finds out he's your junior officer- priceless." Reed and I both tried unsuccessfully to hide our amusement as Ben glared at Johnny. Ben stalked forward and reached for Johnny's neck, which caused him to jerk his head back to try to avoid his hands. But Ben merely unzipped part of Johnny's spacesuit as Johnny grinned. "Thank you. That's so sweet." I snorted. I knew that Ben had only done that to stop himself from strangling Storm and I'm pretty sure everyone else knew it too.

"I can handle this ship. I can even handle Mr. Blonde Ambition. But I don't know if I should be flying or doing Swan Lake in these suits." Ben pulled an extra suit out of the closet, looking at it in disdain. "I mean, who the hell came up with these?" He said, gesturing to the suit in his hands and the one Johnny was already wearing.

"Victor did." Susan said as she walked in with more suits, presumably for the rest of us. The skintight suit hugged her body and she had the zipper down enough that a fair amount of her chest was showing. I glanced over at Reed and saw his eyes go wide. "The synthetics act as a second skin, adapting to your body's individual needs."

"See, now that means it keeps the hot stuff hot and the cool stuff cool." Johnny interjected helpfully. I rolled my eyes.

"Thanks for the info, Einstein." I said, causing Johnny to turn around and see me for the first time. He raised a brow at me before giving me a slow once over.

"Well hel_lo_ there…" I thought I heard him murmur before my attention was brought back to Reed and Sue.

"Wow. Fantastic." Reed whispered as he got up and made his way over to Susan. I saw Susan give a smug smile at Reed's apparent attraction until he ruined it. "Material made from self-regulating, unstable molecules. I've been working on a formula for this." He said as he reached for the suit in Ben's hands, his attention captured by science once more. We all looked at Susan to see her smile fade and her happy demeanor deflate at Reed's ignorance.

"Well. Great minds think alike." She said, trying to cover up her hurt. I felt bad for her, I really did. I had thought the breakup was bad on Reed's part, but it seemed to me that she was still interested and he was oblivious. She sighed and handed a suit to Ben. "Here you go, Ben."

"Thanks, sweetie." He said, shaking his head at Reed. She headed over to where I still lay sprawled on the couch. I wrinkled my nose as she approached.

"Do I _have _to wear that? I prefer my jeans and t-shirts." I grumbled, eyeing the material scornfully. She cracked a smile.

"Sorry, but it's required. Don't worry, they're very comfortable."

"Yeah, for pretty people like you." I grumbled as I grabbed it, dreading putting on the tight material. I wasn't overweight, but I wasn't a super model either. I had some meat on me and I wasn't fond of showing my body in a world that only accepted size zeros.

"If it makes you feel any better, I can't wait to see you in it." Johnny grinned, giving me another once over. I blushed deeply and curled my legs up around me, as if to hide from his gaze.

"No. It doesn't make me feel better." Susan smiled, but became cold as she approached our last member.

"Reed." She tossed his suit at him as she walked away, causing him to look after her in confusion.

"What did I do?" He asked, bewildered. The rest of us sighed and ignored him. After a few seconds of silence, Johnny started heckling my Uncle again and I took the moment to look him over. He was chiseled, I'd give him that. It was hard not to notice when every time he moved his muscles rippled and stretched. His hands were callused, which told of his rougher life-style and his skin fairly tanned. But not tanned enough that it made his dirty blonde hair stand out against it. He had dark blue eyes, an angular nose, and I was pretty sure I had seen light dimples earlier when he smiled. I had to hand it to him, he had the whole package. The problem was that he knew it as well, and so with the good looks came the ego. I knew a lot of girls would go for the handsome, bad-boy but I knew Johnny wasn't the relationship kind of guy. I was sure he had broken many a heart, and I was determined that mine would not be added to the list. I wanted commitment with whatever guy I decided to date and I sure as hell wouldn't get anything like that from Johnny. It was a pity that a lot of the good looking guys were so shallow. Johnny must have felt my eyes on him as he turned to me and smirked.

"See something you like, babe?" I raised an eyebrow at the pet name, but ignored it as I calmly met his gaze.

"No. Just trying to figure out how you managed to crash that flight simulator into a wall." I deadpanned easily before I got up to head to the changing room, leaving a shocked Johnny and snickering Ben behind.

* * *

><p>Hours later we had connected to Victor's space port and boarded it with no difficulties, thank god. Good thing Johnny actually knew what he was doing. As we walked in, I tried to ignore Johnny's heated gaze on me. I officially hated these stupid suits. As I helped Ben pick up some things we would need for the experiment, I missed something Victor said. I'm pretty sure it was something about when the storm would hit though.<p>

"If you're good, maybe next time Daddy will let you drive." Johnny said to Ben as they were walking.

"You keep talking and there won't be a next time." I followed Ben and Johnny down the hall as they bickered. They kept at it until we entered a big circular room, where we would be staying when the storm hit the station.

"We can monitor the cloud's approach and observe the tests from here." Susan called out as we all put our things down.

"Is it safe?" Ben asked, glancing around at all the tech that lined the walls. Reed walked up and nodded.

"The shields on the station should protect us." My eyes widened at the casual way that Reed had just said that there _was _the possibility that the plan might not work.

"'Should'?" My uncle and I asked at the same time.

"What's the matter, Ben? Getting paranoid in your old age?" Victor asked as he slowly walked over to us. I felt a tad irritated that he had completely ignored my presence. Then again, he had a bone to pick with Reed and Ben, not me. Ben started to walk towards Victor and Reed quickly put himself between the two to stop the oncoming fight.

"Let's start loading those samples. Get your suit ready, Ben." He hesitated, then nodded and headed towards the door. But Victor spoke up again, making him pause.

"So I see you're still doing all the heavy lifting. Maybe you should have stayed in the lab. Fieldwork never suited you." I had to bite my tongue to keep myself from joining in the argument to defend Ben. We needed to diffuse the situation, not enhance it. Ben turned around and walked back over to stand by Reed, his expression stony.

"He does the talking. I do the walking. Got it?"

"So, take a walk, Ben." I couldn't stop a hiss of anger from escaping my lips at that snide little comment. How dare he?! "Actually, if you'll all excuse me, I need to borrow Susan for a moment." Victor carried on, ignoring the look of shocked outrage on both mine and my Uncle's face. I huffed as I walked over to Ben and we made our escape.

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><p>A few minutes later, Johnny had finally appeared and had begun to help my Uncle suit up. I leaned against the wall and looked out the window, admiring the view of Earth from up here. I wished I hadn't forgotten my camera.<p>

"Please tell me your guy's not trying to rekindle things with my sister again." I heard Johnny say and I turned to see that Ben was almost ready to head out.

"Of course not. It's strictly business." Ben denied, his voice filtering though the earpiece we had all been given to communicate with each other. Johnny gave him a disbelieving smile as he double checked all of Ben's attachments.

"Yes, well, his eyes say differently, don't they?" Ben grabbed Johnny's arm.

"Hey. Two hearts got busted last time. Maybe she's not over it either."

"Wow, Dr. Phil, that's deep." Johnny quipped, turning to grab the samples of flora that Reed wanted to be exposed to the storm. "Let's think about that. You got Victor- more money than God, stud of the year- and you got Reed, world's dumbest smart guy worth less than a postage stamp. That's a real toss-up." He finished as they walked into the portal room and Johnny clipped the samples onto Ben's suit.

"Don't trouble your tiny little mind." Ben growled as he took the plants from him. Johnny shrugged and stepped out of the portal.

"Don't wander off now, boy." Johnny went over and secured the air lock chamber before giving Ben a mock salute. I walked over to see Ben off, waving at him happily before the portal opened and Ben turned to face the wide open expanses of space. As he clamored out, Johnny turned to me. "So, I never caught your name, beautiful." I blushed lightly as he gave me another once over.

"Lila." I muttered as I went back over to my spot by the window, watching as my Uncle set up the samples. Unfortunately, Johnny didn't take the hint and followed me over.

"Hmmm…Lila. I like it. A pretty name for a pretty girl." I looked at him.

"If that's the best pickup line you've got, then I'm afraid women's standards have fallen a lot further than I had thought." He smirked, sidling up next to me.

"Nah, I have better ones. I just thought you were too classy for them, so I decided to downplay."

"Right." I hoped that my one-syllable answer would be enough to deter him from keeping up our conversation, but I had misjudged Johnny Storms persistence. After a few moments of silence he piped up again.

"So, Lil- you don't mind if I call you that, do you?" I sighed.

"I don't know why you would. It sounds stupid and my name is short enough as is. So, I would prefer it if you would come up with a different nickname for me, if you must have one."

"Yeah, you're right. I can be more creative than that." He stopped to think for a moment before snapping his fingers. "I got it! Sass!"

"What?"

"Sass! Because you're, you know, sassy!" I heard Ben chuckling through the earpiece and remembered that he could hear everything we were saying. I couldn't help but give Johnny an exasperated smile.

"Really? Sass? How is that more creative than Lil? Why don't we just call me by my actual name and call it a day?" He shook his head, grinning.

"Nope. It's stuck in my head now. You're officially Sass to me." His amusement was contagious and I found myself relaxing around him. This wasn't so bad; if I could just be friends with him we would probably get along great.

"Alright. You can call me Sass if you want to."

"That's good, because I was going to call you that either way." I punched his arm as he walked away, laughing, to check the controls on the wall. Yes, Johnny and I could definitely be friends. Ben would hate that. I felt my lips tug upwards at the thought. Reed suddenly burst into the room, shattering the happy atmosphere.

"Ben, get inside now!" He shouted, panic coloring his words. Johnny turned around from whatever he had been fiddling with.

"What's going on?" Reed ignored him and ran to the window, looking out at Ben. Or, more specifically, at what was _behind _Ben. I gasped as I saw the huge, billowing orange cloud that was heading straight for us.

The storm had arrived early.

"I ain't done arranging your flowers yet, egghead." Ben said in confusion, having not noticed the cloud and the danger of his situation.

"Ben, turn around." I whispered in horror as the cloud drew closer. We all watched as he turned to face the cloud. After a few seconds of silent shock, Ben said what we were all thinking.

"Guys, I'm not going to make it."

"Ben, you gotta jump! It's the only way!" Johnny yelled at Ben's frozen figure. When he didn't move right away I jumped in, sheer panic coating my words.

"Ben if you don't move right now I swear to God I will go out there and kill you myself! Now JUMP!" I shrieked. My order spurred him into action and the three of us watched, transfixed, and Ben leapt off the platform he had been on. He floated slowly towards safety as the storm licked at his heels. He was moving to slow; at this rate he would never clear the cloud.

"Come on, Ben! You got this!" Johnny's encouraging words were ruined by his look of fear and worry. We all held onto the tiny strand of hope that Ben would somehow manage to make it.

"Johnny, get ready to close the portal." Reed told him and, for once, he didn't argue. He quickly went to the wall and prepared everything to bring Ben in. I stood by the portal door, frozen, as I watched my uncle try to outrun the dangerous storm.

But he wasn't fast enough.

One of the streaks of lightning from the cloud burst against Ben's suit and we heard him grunt in pain. He was blown against the window of the portal where Reed and I stood watching, horrified.

"Ben!" I screamed, pressing my hand against the glass as Johnny shut the portal door, trying to push out the storm. He slowly slid down the glass and I saw his eyes close. I wasn't sure if he was unconscious or dead, but either way I was in shock. I backed away slowly from his prone form, too numb to even notice that the portal's shield wasn't enough to keep the cloud out. Orange light blasted through the metal of the door, almost blinding me.

Before I blacked out from the excruciating pain, I felt Johnny wrap his arms around my waist and turn me away from the blast, trying to protect me.

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**AN: So...thoughts on Johnny's protectiveness and how that might affect Lila's powers? Any suggestions as to what Lila's powers should be? Changes to Johnny's powers to match the change in movement from the storm? Obviously, he's still going to be the Human Torch, I just mean in addition to that. Maybe some kind of connection with Lila, since they are the only ones that were touching one another during the storm? Give me your thoughts!**

**R&R my lovelies!**


	3. Fun at the Facility

**AN: I loved the ideas some of you gave for Lila's powers! They were creative! **

**I AM NOT REVEALING LILA'S POWERS IN THIS CHAPPY SO IF YOU HAVE AN IDEA FOR HER POWER, FEEL FREE TO REVIEW AND COMMENT WHAT YOU THINK IT SHOULD BE! :D**

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**Chapter 3: Fun at the Facility**

JOHNNY'S POV

"Wake up, Ben. Ben!" I somehow managed to keep a straight face as Ben Grimm's eyes finally peeled open to look up at me confusedly. Oh, this was going to be good. "Hey, rise and shine, big boy. How you feeling?" As he tried to focus on me, I couldn't help but feel a bit of guilt, but I quickly shoved it down. So, it was kind of a mean prank, but no one was going to get hurt! Besides, I had been trapped in this building for days without any entertainment! This was long overdue.

"Where am I?" He groaned.

"Back on Earth. We're in quarantine at Victor's medical facility." I answered honestly. I had learned long ago that the best pranks were the most realistic ones, those were the ones that people actually believed before they realized they had been duped. The faces I got with these types were fantastic. He took a few seconds to process what I said before his brain started working.

"Reed? Sue? Lila?"

"Oh, they're fine. Everybody else is…fine." I let myself hesitate on 'fine', and watched with internal satisfaction as Ben's head snapped towards me, dread filling his features.

"What's wrong with me?" He asked hesitantly. Oh, this was too good. I took a deep breath, as if dreading my next words.

"I swear to you, Ben, they've done everything humanly possible. The best plastic surgeons in the world are here, Ben. You had the best." I almost lost it as he felt his face, trying to find differences that weren't there. Still panicked, he looked around and spied the mirror I had conveniently placed on his bedside table. But he, of course, didn't know that. I had to say, this was coming together beautifully. He reached for it hurriedly but I quickly took it out of his grasp, faking hesitation and concern. Damn, I should have been an actor.

"Give me that mirror."

"I don't know if that's…a good idea. They said the shock alone-"

"I said give me that goddamn mirror!" He shouted, and I gave it up easily. He didn't look at himself right away, instead he began to slowly, ever so slowly, bring it up to see himself.

"Okay, Ben. Just…be strong." I began to slowly back away, knowing the explosion was coming and dreading it only slightly less than I was anticipating it. He finally brought it up to look at his unmarred face, touching his cheek as if he couldn't believe it. My grin finally escaped as I witnessed my perfectly executed plan fall into place. "Unfortunately, the doctors just couldn't do anything to fix your face." With a shout of rage he threw the mirror at me. I managed to escape through the door, laughing, moments before the mirror smashed against the wall, sending shards of glass flying. I chuckled as I walked away from his room. God, Ben was always so easy to rile up. As I walked to my next destination, I ran into Reed and noticed the slight graying behind his ears.

"Hey. Nice do!"

"What?" He looked at me in confusion and I rolled my eyes internally. Seriously, how could such a smart guy be so stupid? I decided to clarify myself to help him out.

"Liking the grandpa look." When he still gave me a blank stare I elaborated more by gesturing towards the hair by my ears. When he still looked lost, I gave up and left him standing in the hallway. God, he was slow. Still, he wasn't as slow as old Benny-boy during my prank. My grin resurfaced as I remembered his face again. Man, I wish I could have had a camera for that. Total Kodak moment. I headed towards Lila's room, my good mood unfortunately fading the closer I got. She was the only one of us that had yet to awaken and for some reason that really set me on edge. Shouldn't she have been the _first _to recover as she had, hopefully, gotten less of the radiation than the rest of us? I specifically remembered pulling her into my arms to try to shield her small body from the storm before it hit us. That was another thing I couldn't explain: my interest with her. Sure, Lila was cute in a next-door-neighbor-girl kind of way, but she was nowhere near the types of girls I usually associated with. But something about her just captured my attention. Especially since waking up down here! I had found myself spending more and more time at her bedside, and it hadn't gone unnoticed by my sister. She kept giving me strange looks every time she caught me in there, but I couldn't seem to help myself. I felt strangely protective of her, and found myself wanting to be the first person she saw when she woke up. As if that wasn't crazy enough, I had found myself _ignoring hot nurses to go sit with Lila_. Hot nurses! What the hell was wrong with me?! As I walked into her dimly lit room, my eyes instinctively went to her face. She was still unconscious. She lay on the bed silently, and if it wasn't for the beep of the heart monitor I might have thought she was dead. I sighed and grabbed the chair I had been sitting in the last few days, turning it around so I could rest my head and arms against the back of it and observe Lila. I tried to figure out what it was about her that had captured my attention.

Lila wasn't thin, but on her a bit of pudge wasn't bad. In fact, it was refreshing to see a girl that didn't have protruding hip bones. I smiled as I recalled her trying to get out of wearing the skintight space suits. She had been embarrassed, but I didn't see why. That suit had hugged her every curve, showing the delicious ass Lila had been hiding in those loose-fitting jeans. And she wasn't supermodel tall either; in fact, I was sure I could comfortably rest my chin on her head as I wrapped my arms around her waist. But, she was evenly proportioned and short looked good on her. Her skin was smooth and fair; I had yet to see her mar her appearance with makeup of any kind. Or if she did wear any, she went with the natural look that most girls couldn't pull off, but, on her, it worked. Her long, chestnut hair went down to her fairly big bust in slight ringlets. It wasn't curly enough to be considered frizzy, it was just curly enough that I could picture wrapping my fingers around the smooth coils as I pulled her head back to kiss down her neck. Smooth eyebrows arched beautifully over deep-set, almond-shaped eyes. Her eyes, of course, weren't open, but I remembered how they seemed to be endless chasms of deep chocolate with shards of black that shone from deep within. As cliché as it sounded, I swore I could drown in those depths. Her nose was rather small, but it fit well on her oval face, as did her sweet little mouth. I didn't think she was even aware that when she was lost in thought she bit her plump bottom lip. Man, what I wouldn't give to do that for her…

"Back again, Johnny?" My sister's amused and curious voice jolted me out of my thoughts. And just as they were starting to get good too. I shrugged nonchalantly, barely sparing her a glance as I kept my eyes on Lila to avoid her gaze.

"She's the only one that hasn't woken up yet. I was the captain of the mission, so I was and am responsible for my crew's health. That's all it is." She laughed lightly before pulling up another chair and sitting next to me.

"Liar. I've never seen you this worked up over a girl. Do you actually have feelings for her?" I scoffed at the thought.

"Of course not. I just…" I trailed off, not knowing what to really say. She gestured for me to continue, her eyes softening as she realized I really was confused about this. I sighed as I ran my fingers through my short hair. "I don't know, Sue. I don't know what it is about her. I was interested in her before, sure. But what pretty girl am I _not _interested in?" She laughed.

"Well, yes. There is that. I do remember a time when you were a one-woman man, though." She hinted and I gave her an indulgent smile.

"Yeah, a long time ago. Before I realized that this much hotness is meant to be shared and passed around, not tied down." She merely sighed in disappointment as I continued. "Anyway, I'm not sure what it is about Lila. Like I said, I was interested in her before, but now I just feel like I should be by her. Maybe it's just like a hero complex or something. I tried to save her and now I need to make sure she'll be okay. I don't even know how to describe the feeling, honestly." Susan frowned, her nails tapping thoughtfully against her chairs arm rest.

"Okay, let me get this straight. You were interested and attracted to her before, but now you seem to have a strange need to be near her? Does that about cover it?" I nodded. "Hmm…are you sure you don't like her?" She gave a very me-like smirk. "Because it sounds like to me that you are suffering from a case of infatuation." I jerked myself out of my chair, glaring down at my sister.

"Hell no. Don't get the wrong idea." She stood up as well, facing off with me.

"You can lie to yourself, Johnny Storm, but I can see the truth. You were interested in her before the launch and you're interested in her now. The fact that you tried to protect her in Victor's station just proves that you have feelings for her. Why don't you just admit you found a girl that actually captures your attention for more than two seconds?! It's not a sin to find someone to love."

"Yeah, you found someone to love and look where it left you." I growled, ignoring her wince of pain. "I'm not interested in love. Never will be. I just haven't had a good roll in the sheets in a while. That's all." I'm sure one of the nurses would be interested. That would take care of my problem surely…

"Keep telling yourself that."

"I will. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go have some fun. Preferably with a hot chick." Before she could say anything else I stalked out of the room. I wasn't crushing on Lila! I couldn't believe Sue would even think that! Just because I felt some weird connection towards her didn't mean anything- did it? I mean, I had never felt this way before. I shook my head harshly, trying to jerk those thoughts out of my head. That was just Sue putting ideas in my head. I needed to get my mind off of Lila. Glancing out the window, the snow covered mountains caught my eye. Tiny speck, snowboarders and skiers I assumed, flew down the slopes. I felt a relieved smile curl my lips. Snowboarding. Perfect. I jogged down to my room and started getting dressed. As I was getting my last leg into the snow pants- why did snow clothes always have to be so damn tight?- I hopped out of the bathroom, almost running into a nurse on my way out. I vaguely recognized her from my time here, but I didn't know her name. Not that it mattered. I ignored the tiny voice in my head that was comparing her to Lila and finding her lacking. I had found my distraction girl.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Where do we think we're going?" She asked, watching as I finally managed to get into the damn pants.

"I don't know if we've noticed, but the sickest runs this side of the Alps are right outside that window." I grabbed my coat.

"Yeah, I've noticed. But there are rules here. You can't leave until we-"

"Until we've finished the tests. I know. I've never been good with rules. You let me know how those come out." I looked at her in mock seriousness before smiling playfully at her. "Do you want to help me with the zipper?" She rolled her eyes but I saw the smile she was trying to hide. I was wearing her down.

"You know, this is not a ski resort." I shrugged as I zipped my coat up.

"Not yet." I said quickly as I sat back on the bed to shove my boots on. "Luckily, Grandma still sends care packages. You know, it's amazing. For an 80-year-old woman, you'd be surpri-" I cut myself off as Miss. Nursey stuck a thermometer in my mouth.

"You are trouble." She said as she clicked the button to start getting my temperature. I hummed at her words, taking them as a compliment.

"Trouble is my middle name." Her face suddenly twisted in shock and confusion.

"Oh, you're hot!"

"Why, thank you. So are you." Now that wasn't completely true. Even without the irritating little voice in my head saying she wasn't as good as Lila I wouldn't have rated her that far up the attractive scale. More like pretty with a side of cute. But she didn't need to know that. "And I'm not afraid to cry." She ignored me and felt my cheek and forehead.

"No, I mean you feel a little feverish!" I grabbed the hand that was feeling up my face, not that the chill of her skin didn't feel good, and tugged it away from me.

"Well, I've never felt better in my life. My God, you smell good. Listen, when do you get off work?" I asked casually as I took the thermometer out of my mouth.

"4:00, but I-"

"Tell you what. You meet me at 4:01 at the top of the mountain. That'll give you a minute to freshen up." I grabbed my snowboard from behind me and grabbed another jacket before I walked over to her confidently. I stuck the thermometer in her nurse apron. "This is yours." I then lightly kissed her on the lips. "That's mine." Before she could respond I was heading out the door with my gear. "Nurses." I muttered to myself as I headed towards the mountain.

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**AN: Yes, I know in the movie Sue is not up yet, but I told you I would be changing things! How did you like Johnny's POV? It was actually pretty hard, because I want to make him a likeable guy for Lila, but in the movie he IS kind of a jerk. So, I'm going to try to tone him down a bit. **

**Again, you can still guess on Lila's power or if there should be a connection between Lila and Johnny and what kind! So feel free to R&R my lovelies! **


	4. The Unexpected

**AN: So many of you suggested ice powers! Guys! You have to think outside the box! Almost all of the current Johnny x OC fanfics have the OC with ice powers or some type of telepathic ability. It's pretty weird. Anyway, thank you for all the reviews, follows, and views. Considering the Fantastic 4 fandom isn't very big, I'll take what I can get. At least until the new movie comes out, but then everyone will be writing for the new one not reading the old. Kinda sad tbh. But whatever! On with the show!**

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**Chapter 4: The Unexpected**

LILA'S POV

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. _I groaned quietly as an irritating beeping dragged me away from unconsciousness. I reached out to hit sleep on my alarm but my arm hit air and the sound continued. God, why wouldn't it stop?

"Lila?" At the sound of my name I slowly blinked my eyes open. Blinking at the sudden onslaught of light, I turned my head towards the voice I had heard.

"Susan?" I coughed as my throat protested being used after who knows how long. Sue handed me a glass of lukewarm that had been sitting on a table close to my bed.

"Is that better?" I nodded gratefully, polishing off the glass with a satisfied sigh. I looked around the room, immediately recognizing it as a hospital room and the beeping was coming from my heart monitor.

"Where are we? How long have I been out?" I sat up a little more in my bed, my mind clearing as I woke up more. As I remembered the events that led me here my eyes widened and I turned to Sue in a panic. "Oh, God! Ben! Is he okay?! What about the others?! Are th-" Susan quickly held up her hands in surrender, laughing lightly.

"Whoa, whoa! Calm down, Lila. Everyone is fine. In fact, your uncle just woke up about an hour ago. We're quarantined at Victor's medical facility in the mountains. You're the last one to wake up, the rest of us have been up for a few days. We were starting to worry that being in contact with Johnny when the storm hit was having a negative effect on you." I concentrated, trying to piece together my hazy memories. It was hard to remember anything but the intense pain.

"Johnny… he tried to shield me from the cloud, didn't he?"

"Yes. Well, Johnny spun the tale so it seemed like you threw yourself at him for his protection, but no one bought it." She rolled her eyes at her brother story and I couldn't help but smirk. That definitely sounded like something Johnny would do. Then I frowned in confusion.

"But why?" She looked at me in surprise.

"Why would he make it seem like you threw yourself at him?"

"No! I know why he did that. Why do you think he protected me? That doesn't seem like a very Johnny thing to do." She looked down at me with an unreadable expression.

"Lila, I understand Ben doesn't like Johnny, and I'm sure he's told you about my brother, but you have to understand that there is more to Johnny than what most people see. Yes, I will admit he's a playboy and pretty immature, but he has a good heart underneath that. You can't judge him just based on what your uncle has said about him. If you get to know him, I'm sure you'll find a depth that you never would have guessed. Johnny is a good kid, even if he has a lot of growing up to do. So please, give him a chance. He's actually been in here watching over you a lot; he was as worried as the rest of us." I looked down embarrassedly, properly chastised.

"I'm sorry, Sue. I didn't mean to criticize your brother. You're right, I don't really know him. Actually, when we were talking at the station before the cloud hit, and he was pretty cool. I think we could be good friends, if he would stop trying to get in my pants." She joined me in laughing as I said that last part.

"Good luck with that. I'm sure you could be friends too, but he will never stop trying." She snickered before getting up and grabbing a bag that had been lying in the corner. "Here are some of your clothes. But, no offense, you stink. I'd suggest taking a shower before changing." She smirked as I turned red.

"Gee, thanks a lot Susan." I muttered before getting out of bed and taking the bag from her. As I took it, my hand brushed against hers and she jumped, letting out a squeak.

"Holy crap, Lila! You're freezing!"

"Really? I don't feel cold." I shrugged, feeling my own forehead superstitiously. "I don't feel any difference. Are you sure you didn't just brush up against the metal buckle of the bag?" She shook her head, looking at me strangely.

"No, it was you. I can't believe you don't feel it!" She touched my arm again and shivered, drawing back. "Why don't you go take a hot shower?"

"But I'm not cold!"

"Yeah, you might not feel it but you are. Just humor me, okay?" She gave me one last glance before leaving me alone. I shrugged, slipping the bag's strap over my shoulder as I headed to the built in bathroom.

"Okay then." After locking the bathroom door, I slipped off my smelly hospital gown and turned the water on. As the water heated up, I grabbed my Ipod from a side pocket in the bag. I scrolled through until I found my favorite Evanescence song and turned it up full blast. By that time the water was hot, so I went and turned off the lights before getting in. It was my weird habit, something about showering in the complete dark was always so soothing to me. I got to work scrubbing all the sweat and ick off of me from the last few days. Even after I was sure my skin was pink from abuse, I stood under the spray, letting the water cascade down me. I hadn't felt cold with Sue, but I had to admit that the heat felt good. Unfortunately, this building must not have had much warm water, because soon enough I found myself unable to twist the faucet any hotter. I sighed contentedly as I finally turned off the water. The heat may have felt good, but the cold didn't really bother me as I stepped out of the shower. I grabbed my pick from the counter and combed through my hair, getting all the snags out. I grabbed my towel and started to dry off while I checked my Ipod for the time. I was surprised to find that my shower had been longer than I had thought, almost an entire hour. I wrapped the towel around myself as I fumbled for the light. I was used to the dark, but as this wasn't my bathroom, I had trouble remembering where everything was. As I felt around for it, I thought about Ben and Reed. After this, I should go find them and see how they were doing. Knowing Reed, he was probably beating himself up for not predicting the storm accurately.

I gasped as ice abruptly filled my veins, shocking me in its intensity. It wasn't a bad feeling per say, but it was startling to say the least. Even though I swore I could feel the ground underneath my feet, I felt the sensation of falling. I then felt a weird shift and my stomach dropped as I felt myself flying upward. Light suddenly surrounded me and I screamed as I was thrown off of my feet. I tumbled to the ground in an undignified heap, somehow managing to keep the towel on my body. I laid there in shock before turning my head towards where I had come from. I was just in time to see the dark hole I had apparently been in disappearing into the carpet. My brain finally caught up with the situation and I looked around at my new location. I immediately grabbed at my towel to make sure I was still properly covered and scrambled up as I realized I was no longer in my private rooms. I was now in he nearly abandoned dining area, staring at an equally surprised Susan and Reed. My jaw dropped, not only at my strange experience, but at the situations my teammates had found themselves in as well.

Where I assumed Susan sat, was simply empty air. The only reason I knew she was there was because the shirt I had seen her wearing earlier floated in the air, conforming to the body that was still there, just not visible.

Reed sat across from her, looking down at his arm. It was stretched all the way to Susan's side of the table. It was holding a bottle of wine that I assumed had been knocked off of the table by Sue in her panic. It looked about a foot longer than it should have been.

What. The. Hell.

I watched in stunned silence as Reed slowly retracted his arm back to its normal length and Sue faded back into visibility. They looked at each other and then turned to look at me, still standing in a towel, water dripping from the strands of my wet hair. We remained silent, the shock and confusion rendering us all speechless. Then, as if to top it all off, another strange thing happened.

Johnny waddled in wearing nothing but a fluffy pink coat around his waist.

"Hey! You guys! You are never going to believe what just happened to me." None of us said anything as we all silently questioned the coat. "What?" He finally asked when he got no response. Glancing down, understanding lit his features. "Oh. Well, I can explain this."

"Please don't." He jumped as he heard me and whirled around, looking at me for the first time.

"Lila! You're up! That's great! But…um…what's with the towel?" Before I could utter a retort a wave of confusion, excitement, and giddiness hit me. I inhaled and shifted from foot to foot, trying to tamp down the strange emotions. What in the world? When I glanced back over at Johnny he, too, had a perplexed look. Did he feel those emotions as well? Where had they come from? Before either of us could say anything, Reed and Sue sprang into action, rushing out the door and into the hallway. Johnny and I looked at each other for a moment before scurrying after them, struggling to keep up while keeping our covers on.

"It has to be the cloud. It's fundamentally altered our D.N.A." We heard Sue say as we caught up.

"Let's not jump to conclusions. We need a massive amount of evidence before making that leap." Reed responded as we all made our way down the hall. I heard a snap and turned to see Johnny's thumb on fire. I gaped at him as he snapped his fingers again, making the flame disappear. He did it again, making it reappear. As I watched, I again felt the foreign emotions well up inside me, this time of disbelief and delight. I looked curiously up at Johnny, who was too distracted by the fire to notice, I realized that the emotions were _Johnny's_! Holy shit. What had that cloud done to us?!

"Uh, guys?" I called to Reed and Sue, who hadn't noticed that Johnny and I had stopped walking. They turned around and looked at the fire that was still flickering on Johnny's thumb. We walked over to them, Johnny still snapping. He did it again and again, each time causing the flame to spark and then extinguish. He looked at the three of us with a childlike glee.

"Now, picture that, but everywhere!" He gestured frantically at his body, trying to make his point. "It was _everywhere_! What?!" Susan turned to Reed with an expectant, disdainful look. He took a exhaled in defeat.

"The cloud has fundamentally altered our D.N.A." He muttered before they resumed walking briskly down the hall. Johnny cackled like Christmas had just come early.

"Cool! And you know what, guys? I think I was flying!"

"Seriously?" I asked, curious, despite the weird situation. He turned to me with a wide grin, nodding enthusiastically.

"Yeah! It was so cool, Sass! Man, I wish you had been there!" He sighed dreamily, his eyes glazing somewhat as he relived the moment. I raised my brow at the name. It seemed familiar but…

"Sass?"

"Your nickname, remember?" Ah-ha! That's where I remembered it from!

"Oh, yeah. I kind of forgot about it with everything going on." He laughed and I gave him a small smile. Sue turned and threw us a disapproving look.

"Come on, you two! We have to find Ben." My smile disappeared as I thought of Ben. Oh, God. If we all had these bizarre symptoms with only some exposure to the storm, what would happen to Ben? He had the most exposure, and for the longest amount of time! I picked up my pace, fear and determination driving me, to catch back up to Susan and Reed. Johnny quickly followed me, confusion now marring his face as he looked at me.

"Sass? Are you feeling that too, or is it just me?" He asked quietly, giving me a sidelong glance.

"If you're meaning the emotions, then yes. I feel them." I said hesitantly, trying to will away the blush I knew was on my cheeks. Getting attention from Johnny was one thing. Getting attention from him when you're in nothing but a towel was something entirely different. It just felt weird talking about our emotional connection when both of us were so revealed.

"Huh. Cool. So, we can read our emotions?"

"I don't know. I think it's just us. I haven't felt anything from anyone else."

"So, it's just us?" I shrugged uncertainly.

"I don't know, seems that way." He seemed to think about it for a moment before a wide smile split his face.

"Sweet. Fire, flying, and a connection with a hot girl. Man, can this day get any better?!" I ducked my head and tried to hide my furiously blushing face behind a curtain of wet hair. He chuckled at my reaction before going back to snapping as we came up to Ben's room.

"Cut it out, Johnny." Susan growled, the snapping of his fingers obviously getting on her nerves. He ignored her.

"Still getting the hang of it." He murmured absently, continuing to play with the fire. Reed tried Ben's door to find it locked. He banged on it, trying to get a response from within.

"Hey, Ben! It's Reed!" He called in. Sue whirled around to face off with Johnny, who was still snapping his fire on and off again.

"Stop." She snarled, glaring at her brother.

"All right."

"All right?"

"Yes!"

"God!"

"God!" He repeated mocking her childishly. I remembered what she had said about him earlier and couldn't help but agree that he had a lot of growing up to do.

"What's wrong with you?!" She shouted, the stress of everything finally getting to her.

"Sue, do you know the code?" Reed asked frantically from his place by the door.

"I might." She said as she went over to the electronic keypad and began trying different codes to get the door unlocked. I moved over to the chaos by the door and peeked in through the tiny window in the door. My worry increased tenfold as I saw the havoc inside. The screens were all reading error and Ben's heart was going ballistic. I could hear his heavy breathing and grunting though the door. With a loud crack and boom, the bed broke and crashed to the ground. Reed and I banged against the door, trying to get it to open up.

"Uncle Ben!" I cried, still hitting at the door. The crash had even garnered Johnny's attention as he yelled down the empty hallway in an attempt to get some help.

"Hey, does somebody have keys to these doors? Anybody?"

"Ben?!" I backed away from scene as Reed continued yelling, trying to get a response from Ben. I chewed my lower lip, wanting to be able to get to my Uncle and help him. Whatever the storm had done to him, it had to be bad to break the freaking bed! Oh, poor Ben! I barely noticed this time as ice seeped into my veins once more.

"Lila!" I felt a stab of fear and looked up to see Johnny staring at my feet. I looked down in surprise right as a black pit opened up underneath me, dragging me in. I screamed as the darkness swallowed me, the falling and then raising sensation quickly overtaking me again. Once again, the pit seemed to thrust me out of itself, and this time I was at least slightly prepared. I braced myself as I fell onto the ground in front of the hole. I steadied myself before looking up, coming face to face with Ben. Only he didn't look like Ben. We just looked at each other, him from his place among the remains of his bed, and me still kneeling where the hole had dropped me. I distantly felt Johnny's feelings of pure panic from behind the door, but I just couldn't seem to move. I was in shock.

"Ben…" I whispered brokenly, tears welling up in my eyes. My voice seemed to snap him out of his stupor and he pulled himself out of the twisted metal that used to be his bed. He looked down at himself, then at me, and then fled.

Right through the wall.

The door suddenly burst open and Reed, Susan, and Johnny all rushed inside. While Reed and Sue looked at the hole in the wall in wonder, Johnny immediately went to my side, eyes wide.

"Jesus, Lila! You just…I don't even know! You were eaten by that hole thingy! Are you okay?!" He exclaimed, and I felt his genuine fear and worry. He had really thought I had just disappeared into a void. As much as I wanted to reassure him, all I could manage to do was nod that yes, I was okay. His fear melted into concern at my silence. "Hey, come on, Sass. Wake up." He slapped my cheek lightly and I blinked, finally focusing on him. He gave a relieved smile. A voice suddenly piped up from behind us, startling me.

"What's going on?" Victor stood in the doorway, looking at the crumbling wall in thinly veiled amazement. "What happened in here?"

"Victor, are you feeling all right?" Sue asked, approaching him warily, as if she thought he might suddenly explode.

"I'm fine. Just a few scrapes, that's all."

"Ben did this." Reed told him quickly. "He's had some kind of reaction to the exposure from the cloud."

"We all have...um…different symptoms." Sue said quietly, struggling to find the right words to describe our weird transformations.

"Symptoms?" Susan shifted uncomfortably under Victor's hard gaze.

"Victor, I should have-"

"Just find him." He ordered shortly. He then turned on his heel and left, leaving all of us staring after him in shock. How could he care so little?! Johnny finally broke the silence, looking towards the giant hole.

"Anybody got any ideas where the big guy's going?" I looked down at the ground and noticed something I hadn't before. I reached out and gently picked the picture of him and Debbie up out of the debris. I sighed.

"He's going home."

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**AN: Well, now you've gotten a taste of not only Lila's powers, but of the connection that she and Johnny share. I've already started leaning him towards Lila, and I think it actually works out well. It would be hard not to become close to someone you are so connected with. **

**Anywho, I still have some tricks up my sleeve so keep on guessing what Lila's OTHER power will be. That's right! She gets two, just like Susan. I'm going to have an explanation for that later on in the story too. **

**Sooooooo, if you want to find out what happens, give me some love! R&R my lovelies! :) **


	5. IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE

**IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE**

**I'm sorry for everyone that was following along with this story, but it's just so hard for me to sit down and write. I will still be writing "Granger's Veela" though. Maybe I will come back to this if I EVER get done with that one. It seems I can't multitask very well. So, until further notice, this story will be on hiatus. I'm really to sorry to all that were looking for more, but I will leave you with the hope that I DO NOT WANT TO ABANDON THIS STORY. I just don't feel very connected to it right now. Again, I'm really sorry. :( **

**~ The Ice Goddess **


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